5!

Finished up Jynx today, which means I finished the base and gave her a couple coats of sealer.

She is definitely up to no good.

It's clearly not my best work ever, but it was a useful experiment and I leaned some things about purple and OSL. Also, it's nice to have something else in the 'done' column.

It's worth pointing out that not every piece has to be your best work ever. Doing something as an experiment that doesn't work, or to practice a new technique that you haven't quite managed to get working for you yet, is all good. I'd even say it's necessary. If you're only doing things you're practiced at and comfortable with, you're not going to learn anything.

Jynx: Leggings, shoes, floor

Continuing on with Jynx. I'm trying to just get her wrapped up and move on.

Jynx: Jacket, spell

I'm feeling a need to get something finished, so I went back to Jynx tonight. I put highlights on her jacket, and then worked on the spell effect and its lighting. The results are...not terribly effective.

So, I think the lighting effect is OK on the jacket and the skirt, but not so much on her face and hair. I think there are a few reasons for this:

1. The skin color on her face is very light, when the light itself needs to be the light thing.
2. The saturation of the hair is fighting with the purple lighting.
3. The lighter colors I'm using for the lighting effect don't keep the saturation, so the purple tones get lost in some of the highlight areas.

At this point, I could try to go back and fix it by getting rid of the lighting effect, or maybe changing the hair and skin colors to make them darker. I'm probably not going to...I'm probably going to muck with the light effect a bit more, but then finish the figure and move on. It was an experiment, I have learned some things from it, and having an example of something that didn't work is also useful.

Kalee: Shading Skin

I got a little farther on Kalee today, finishing the first round of shadow and adding a second. I will add a third level of shadow. I also broke off her sword as I was packing up after painting, so I'll have to do that first. :p I think I also need to adjust the shadow on her left butt cheek some.

It was a somewhat frustrating day paint-wise...I didn't get much done, and then also broke the figure at the end. Bah!

Zahra and Kalee: Skin

I'm back, after Adepticon and a few days off. Was finally able to get in some painting today. Not a lot - I base coated Zahra's and Kalee's skin, and started a first round of shading on Kalee.

I'm using RMS Olive Skin on them both. Zahra is getting that because she's theoretically Egyptian, though darker skin would be even better. Kalee is going to have bronze armor, so I'm going with the olive skin tones in expectation of using the same green and purple shading on the armor and skin.

Jynx: Hair, skirt

Got back to Jynx today. I did shading and highlighting on her hair and dress. I'll do the same on her jacket, then go back and put in the purple from the orb. I tried to place the highlights as if the light were coming from the orb, which of course it will be in the affected areas. I am planning on making it so that the globe is not putting out that much light, so its effect won't reach past her face and torso.

I did also work on Kalee and the sorceress. I did the bit of putty that Kalee needs; she'll be ready for primer tomorrow. I also did some gap filling on the sorceress. Neither of them look different, so no pictures.

I do have some basing ideas for the sorceress - I'm thinking I'll put her on some kind of gothic roof or tower. That made me think of Mistborne, with all the Pushing and Pulling to superleap around buildings. So, I'm going to call her Vin, even though she doesn't look much like that character.

Kalee and Sorceress

I didn't have a lot of time for painting today, but I did get some work in on continuing the prep on the sorceress and Kalee.

I did some gap filling on the sorceress, and added another of her bits of cloth. Next I'll need to gap fill that. Also, she still needs a name.

I also moved Kalee's arm so I could get the sword and shield attached. She's glued to the base and the sword is glued on, but the shield is just temporarily stuck in place. I'll paint it separately and then attach it. She is pretty much ready to start - there's a casting flaw on her leg that I need to fix with a bit of putty, and then she'll be ready for paint.